GUILDFORD
PHILHARMONIC
CHOIR
THE DREAM
OF
GERONTIUS
Forthcoming Programme
Dates for your Diary
Sunday, 12 Dec 2004: Holy Trinity Church (time to be
advised)
The Mayor of Guildford’s Christmas Family Concert
Promoted by Guildford Rotary/Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Saturday, 12 March 2005: Guildford Cathedral 7.30pm
Donizetti:
Ave Maria
Verdi:
Pater Noster
Puccini:
Requiem
Mozart:
Clarinet Concerto
Rossini: S
tabat Mater
Promoted by Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Saturday, 14 May 2005: Guildford Cathedral 7.30pm
GPC ‘Contemporary Choral Classics Cycle’ Year 1
Vaughan Williams:
Dona Nobis Pacem (1936)
Karl Jenkins:
The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace (2000)
Promoted by Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
®00
A\
President Sir David Willcocks CBE MC
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Mezzo-soprano
Catherine Denley
Tenor
Eugene Ginty
Bass
Michael Bundy
Forest Philharmonic Orchestra
Jeremy Backhouse
The staging for this concert is owned by
the
Association
of
Surrey
Choirs.
To
hire, please contact Stephen Jepson, tel:
01306 730383. It was purchased with
financial assistance from the Foundation
for Sport and Arts, PO Box 20, Liverpool.
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Financially assisted by
GUILDFORD
BOROUGH
Edward Elgar (1857 — 1934)
"Those years had seen change accelerate as never before in human history. His
response had been to seek the illumination of time remembered. For all those of
his generation and the future who would feel the insight of retrospection, he had
made of that evanescence his music."
Jerrold Northrop Moore: 'Edward Elgar - A Creative Life' (Oxford University Press, 1984)
Elgar was the most significant British composer of his time. His career straddled
the 19th and 20th centuries and is remarkable for producing some of the bestloved works of the English repertoire. Deeply inspired by England’s countryside
and culture, he also absorbed what was going on in Europe, writing masterly
choral and orchestral works as well as chamber, instrumental and keyboard
music.
Elgar was born on 2nd June 1857 in the small Worcestershire village of
Broadheath, some 3 miles from Worcester in the English West Midlands. His
father had a music shop in Worcester and tuned pianos. Surrounded by sheet
music and instruments in his father's shop, the young Elgar became self-taught in
music. On warm summer days, he would take manuscripts into the countryside to
study them. Thus there began for him a strong association between music and
nature. In many ways, his years as a young Worcestershire violinist, where he
played in the first violins at the Worcester and Birmingham Festivals, were his
happiest.
In 1889 he married one of his pupils, (Caroline) Alice Roberts, against the wishes
of her family, who considered that she (a Major-General's daughter) was marrying
beneath herself. Nevertheless, Alice, with determination and a dogged faith in her
husband's emerging genius, played a vital part in the development of Elgar's
career. They moved to London to be closer to the centre of British musical life, and
Elgar started composing in earnest. The stay was unsuccessful, however, and
they were obliged to return to Great Malvern, where Elgar could earn a living. He
conducted and composed for local musical organisations, played the organ at St.
George's Roman Catholic Church in Worcester, and taught the violin.
Slowly his reputation began to spread beyond the area immediately around his
native Worcestershire. In 1899, at the age of 42, his first major orchestral work,
the Varations on an Onginal Theme (Enigma) was premiered in London under the
baton of the eminent German conductor Hans Richter. It was received with
general acclaim, establishing Elgar as the pre-eminent British composer of his
generation. The following year saw the first performance at the Birmingham
Festival of his choral setting of Cardinal Newman's poem The Dream of Gerontius.
Despite a badly-rehearsed and disastrous first performance, the work was
established within a few years as one of Elgar's greatest.
Between 1902 and 1914, Elgar enjoyed phenomenal success, made more than
one conducting tour of the USA, and earned considerable fees from the
performance of his music. Elgar is probably best known for the Pomp and
Circumstance Marches (1901) — the first, in D major, containing the famous trio
2
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
|
section that was later to become Land of Hope and Glory. In 1904, Elgar was
knighted by King Edward VII. In 1906, Elgar was busy working on his great
oratorio,
The Kingdom, the sequel to The Apostles of 1903. Elgar originally
intended that there should be a cycle of three oratorios but the third part of the
trilogy was never completed. Other major works composed up to the beginning of
the First World War in 1914, were the two symphonies, the violin concerto, The
Music Makers and the symphonic study Falstaff.
The First World War depressed Elgar deeply and affected his composing. It was
not until 1918 and 1919 that his final great period produced the three chamber
works - the Violin Sonata and the String Quartet, both in E minor, the Piano
Quintet in A minor and the Cello Concerto in E minor, his last great masterpiece.
Audiences were quick to note the change — gone were the pomp and swagger of
earlier days.
In 1920, Lady Elgar died, and with her died much of Elgar's inspiration and will to
compose. Throughout the 1920s, Elgar, saddened by his bereavement and by the
social and musical changes brought about by the war, lived in virtual retirement,
content to live the life of a country gentleman in his beloved
Worcestershire with his dogs, sometimes emerging for the occasional visit to
outwardly
London or for a conducting or recording assignment. Honours continued to be
conferred on him: he was appointed Master of the King's Music in 1924 and in
1928 he was created Knight Commander of the Victorian Order (K.C.V.0). He
died on 23rd February, 1934.
"I cycled over from Ledbury to lunch with him . . he was greatly relieved at
having
that
instant written his name under the score of the last bar [of Geron-
d Elgar to remain just as he was while | went down and fetched
iy
Anir et
1000
William
Eller, 2
3 August
1900
VA2
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
3
The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38
Cardinal Newman's poem The Dream of Gerontius was a well-known and muchloved work in its own right by the time Elgar came to set it to music in 1900. On its
completion, Elgar wrote "This is the best of me", and, in an interview for the
Musical Times of October 1900, said that the poem had been "soaking in my mind
for at least eight years."
Newman's poem falls into seven sections: the first is a prologue on earth showing
the dying man surrounded by priests and friends/assistants, and the other six
parts trace the Soul's progress through Judgment to Purgatory. Newman's poem
comprises some 900 lines; Elgar retained most of the prologue to form Part |, and
he cut down the rest to 300 lines to form Part Il. This formed a balanced libretto in
two parts, and meant there was a new dramatic contrast between the two states of
life and death as presented in the two parts of the work.
The opening prelude is a successive experience of leading themes wonderfully
scored,
especially in the highly elaborate string
parts
(Elgar the violinist in
evidence) and in the writing for low flutes, when those strings are muted to begin
the uneasy berceuse representing the fitful sleep of Gerontius on his death-bed.
The first choral sound is the prayer of Gerontius' friends: Kyrie Eleison by the
unaccompanied semi-chorus, with the main chorus,
soberly accompanied by
divided violas and cellos, amplifying the prayer with their petitions. The solo 'set
piece' in this first part is Gerontius' Sanctus fortis, ranging through many moods
and serving both as a prayer and a declaration of faith.
The graphic silence at Gerontius' death speaks for itself. It is broken by the
trombones and the bass-solo priest sending the Soul on its way with the injunction
Proficiscere anima Chnistiana, an idea taken up in stately climax by the full power
of chorus and orchestra, then going on in an ascending, consoling march towards
the next world, with the opening prayer almost the last thing to be heard.
Part Il begins with a tender evocation by muted strings of the new world in which
Gerontius finds himself. The "heart-subduing melody" that he hears is a presage
of the Angel's Alleluia refrain, which in its turn has its own beautiful refrain on the
horns. The opening question and answer dialogue of Gerontius and his guardian
angel leads to a number of ever-bigger musical paragraphs: first a euphonious
duet (A presage falls upon thee), then the extended and bitter snarls of the
demons in chorus, and for a climax, the tremendous apotheosis of Newman's
great hymn Praise to the Holiest.
Shortly after its close comes the intercession of the Angel of the Agony, with soft
Wagnerian brass in its accompaniment. Thereafter there is the searing exposure
to God's glance where, at Elgar's direction, every instrument must for one moment
exert its fullest force. The work reaches its serene end with the Angel's farewell to
the soul of Gerontius as it is consigned to purgatory (Softly and gently). The
Angel's solo is combined with prayers on earth and the angelic voices singing
Praise to the Holiest in the distant height.
4
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
PART I
GERONTIUS:
Jesu, Maria - | am near to death,
Pray for me, O my friends: a visitant
And Thou art calling me; | know it now.
Is knocking his dire summons at my
Not by the token of this faltering breath,
door,
This chill at heart, this dampness on my
The like of whom, to scare me and to
brow, —
daunt,
(Jesu, have mercy! Mary, pray for me!)
Has never, never come to me before;
‘Tis this new feeling, never felt before,
So pray for me, my friends, who have not
(Be with me, Lord, in my extremity!)
strength to pray.
That | am going, that | am no more.
‘Tis this strange innermost
abandonment,
(Lover of souls! great God! | look to
Thee,)
This emptying out of each constituent
And natural force, by which | come to be.
ASSISTANTS:
Kyrie eleison,
All holy Innocents, pray for him.
Holy Mary, pray for him.
All'holy Martyrs, all holy Confessors,
All holy Angels, pray for him.
All holy Hermits, all holy Virgins,
Choirs of the righteous, pray for him.
All ye Saints of God, pray for him.
All Apostles, all Evangelists, pray for him.
Kyrie eleison.
All holy Disciples of the Lord, pray for
him.
GERONTIUS:
Rouse thee, my fainting soul, and play
the man;
And through such waning span
Of life and thought as still has to be trod,
Prepare to meet thy God.
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
And while the storm of that bewilderment
Is for a season spent,
And, ere afresh the ruin on thee fall,
Use well the interval.
ASSISTANTS:
Be merciful, be gracious; spare him, Lord.
Thy servant deliver,
Be merciful, be gracious; Lord, deliver him.
For once and for ever.
From the sins that are past;
By Thy birth, and by Thy Cross,
From Thy frown and Thine ire;
Rescue him from endless loss;
From the perils of dying;
By Thy death and burial,
Or relying on self at the last;
By Thy rising from the tomb,
From any complying with sin,
By Thy mounting up above,
Or denying his God, Lord deliver him.
By the Spirit's gracious love,
From the nethermost fire:
Save him in the day of doom.
From all that is evil;
Be merciful, etc.
From power of the devil;
GERONTIUS:
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus
Sanctus fortis Sanctus Deus,
De Profundis oro te,
De Profundis oro te
Miserere, Judex meus
Miserere, Judex meus
Parce mihi Domine.
Parce mihi Domine.
Firmly | believe and truly
And | hold in veneration,
God is Three, and God is One;
For the love of Him alone,
And | next acknowledge duly
Holy Church, as His creation,
Manhood taken by the Son.
And her teachings, as His own.
And | trust and hope most fully
And | take with joy whatever
In that Manhood crucified;
Now besets me, pain or fear,
And each thought and deed unruly
And with a strong will | sever
Do to death, as He has died.
All the ties which bind me here.
Simply to His grace and wholly
Adoration aye be given,
Light and life and strength belong,
With and through the angelic host,
And | love, supremely, solely,
To the God of earth and heaven,
Him the holy, Him the strong.
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De Profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Mortis in discrimine.
| can no more; for now it comes again,
That masterful negation and collapse
That sense of ruin, which is worse than
Of all that makes me man.
pain,
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
And, crueller still,
And makes me wild with horror and
A fierce and restless fright begins to fill
dismay.
The mansion of my soul.
O Jesu, help! pray for me, Mary, pray!
And, worse and worse,
Some angel, Jesu such as came to Thee
Some bodily form of ill
In Thine own agony.
Floats on the wind, with many a loathsome
Mary, pray for me.
curse
Joseph, pray for me.
Tainting the hallowed air, and laughs, and
Mary, pray for me.
flaps
Its hideous wings,
ASSISTANTS:
Rescue him, O Lord, in this his evil hour,
As of old so many by Thy gracious power:
(Amen.)
Noe from the waters in a saving home;
Moses from the land of bondage and
despair; (Amen.)
David from Golia and the wrath of Saul
(Amen.)
(Amen.)
- 80, to show Thy power,
Job from all his multiform and fell distress:
Rescue this Thy servant in his evil hour.
(Amen.)
GERONTIUS:
Novissima hora est; and | fain would sleep,
Into Thy hands O Lord, Lord, into Thy
The pain has wearied me.
hands ...
THE PRIEST AND ASSISTANTS:
Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc
mundo!
Go forth upon thy journey, Christian soul!
Go from this world! Go, in the name of
God
The omnipotent Father, who created thee!
Go, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
Son of the living God, who bled for thee!
Go, in the name of the Holy Spirit,
Who hath been poured out on thee! Go, in
the name
Of Angels and Archangels; in the name
Of Thrones and Dominations: in the name
Of Cherubim and Seraphim, go forth!
Go, in the name of Patriarchs and
Prophets;
And of Apostles and Evangelists,
Of Martyrs and Confessors; in the name
Of holy Monks and Hermits; in the name
Of holy Virgins; and all Saints of God,
Both men and women, go on thy course:
And may thy place today be found in
peace,
And may thy dwelling be the Holy Mount
Of Sion — through the same, through
Christ our Lord.
Of Princedoms and of Powers: and in the
name
INTERVAL
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
PART Il
SOUL OF GERONTIUS:
| went to sleep; and now | am refreshed.
Hath something too of sternness and of
A strange refreshment: for | feel in me
pain.
An inexpressive lightness, and a sense
Of freedom, as | were at length myself
And ne’er had been before. How still it is!
I hear no more the busy beat of time,
No, nor my fluttering breath, nor struggling
Another marvel; someone has me fast
Within his ample palm. A uniform
And gentle pressure tells me | am not
Self-moving, but borne forward on my way.
And hark! | hear a singing; yet in sooth
pulse;
I cannot of that music rightly say
Nor does one moment differ from the next.
Whether | hear or touch or taste the tones.
This silence pours a solitariness
Oh, what a heart-subduing melody!
Into the very essence of my soul;
And the deep rest, so soothing and so
sweet,
ANGEL:
My work is done,
To serve and save,
My task is o’er, And so | come,
Alleluia,
Taking it home,
And saved is he. This child of clay
For the crown is won,
To me was given,
Alleluia,
To rear and train
For evermore.
By sorrow and pain
.
My Father gave in charge to me
In the narrow way,
This child of earth
Alleluia,
E’en from its birth,
From earth to heaven.
SOUL:
It is a member of that family
The throne of God.
Of wondrous beings, who, ere the worlds
| will address Him. Mighty one, my Lord,
were made,
My Guardian Spirit, all hail!
Millions of ages back, have stood around
ANGEL.:
Al hail, my child!
My child and brother, hail! what wouldest thou?
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
—e
SOUL:
I would have nothing but to speak with
thee
For speaking’s sake. | wish to hold with
thee
Conscious communion; though | fain
would know
A maze of things, were it but meet to ask,
And not a curiousness.
ANGEL:
You cannot now
Cherish a wish which ought not to be wished.
SOUL:
Then | will speak. | ever had believed
There to be judged and sent to its own
That on the moment when the
place.
struggling soul
What lets me now from going to my Lord?
Quitted its mortal case, forthwith it fell
Under the awful Presence of its God,
ANGEL.:
Thou art not let; but with extremest speed
Art hurrying to the Just and Holy Judge.
SOUL:
Dear Angel, say,
Along my earthly life, the thought of death
Why have | now no fear at meeting
And judgment was to me most terrible.
Him?
ANGEL:
It is because
Then thou didst fear, that now thou dost
A presage falls upon thee, as a ray
Straight from the Judge, expressive of thy
not fear.
lot.
Thou hast forestalled the agony, and so
That calm and joy uprising in thy soul
For thee the bitterness of death is past.
Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense,
Also, because already in thy soul
And heaven begun.
The judgment is begun.
SOUL:
Now that the hour is come, My fear is
fled:
But hark! upon my sense
Comes a fierce hubbub, which would
And at this balance of my destiny,
make me fear,
Now close upon me, | can forward look
Could | be frighted.
With a serenest joy.
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
ANGEL:
We are now arrived
Hungry and wild, to claim their property,
Close on the judgment court; that sullen
And gather souls for hell.
howl
Hist to their cry.
Is from the demons who assemble there.
SOUL:
How sour and how uncouth a dissonance!
DEMONS:
Low-born clods
And the glance of fire
Of brute earth,
Of the great spirits,
They aspire
The powers blest,
To become gods,
The lords by right,
By a new birth,
The primal owners,
And an extra grace,
Of the proud dwelling
And a score of merits.
And realm of light,—
As if aught
Could stand in place
Of the high thought,
Dispossessed,
And still unjust,
Aside thrust,
Each forfeit crown
Chucked down,
To psalm-droners,
By the sheer might
And canting groaners,
Of a despot’s will,
To every slave
Of a tyrant’s frown.
And pious cheat,
Who after expelling Their hosts, gave,
And crawling knave,
Triumphant still,
Who licked the dust
Under his feet.
ANGEL:
'Tis the restless panting of their being;
In a deep hideous purring have their life,
Like beasts of prey, who, caged within
And an incessant pacing to and fro.
their bars,
10
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
DEMONS:
The mind bold
One whose breath
And independent,
Doth the air taint
The purpose free,
Before his death;
So we are told,
Ha! ha!
Must not think
A bundle of bones,
To have the ascendant.
Which fools adore,
What's a saint?
When life is o’er,
Virtue and vice,
From shrewd good sense
Ha! ha!
A knave’s pretence,
He’ll slave for hire;
'Tis all the same;
And does but aspire
Ha! ha!
To the heaven above
Dread of hell-fire,
With sordid aim,
Of the venomous flame,
And not for love.
A coward’s plea.
Ha! ha!
Give him his price,
(Dispossessed,
Saint though he be,
Aside thrust...)
SOUL:
| see not those false spirits; shall | see
My dearest Master, when | reach His throne?
ANGEL.:
Yes,—for one moment thou shalt see thy
Lord.
One moment; but thou knowest not, my
child,
What thou dost ask: that sight of the Most
Fair
Will gladden thee, but it will pierce thee
too.
SOUL:
Thou speakest darkly, Angel; and an awe
Falls on me, and a fear lest | be rash.
ANGEL:
There was a mortal, who is now above
Upon his flesh; and, from the agony
In the mid glory: he, when near to die,
Which thrilled through body and soul in
Was given communion with the
that embrace,
Crucified,—
Learn that the flame of the Everlasting
Such, that the Master’s very wounds were
Love
stamped
Doth burn ere it transform.
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
11
CHOIR OF ANGELICALS:
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
In all His words most wonderful:
And in the depth be praise:
Most sure in all His ways!
ANGEL.:
Hark to those sounds!
They come of tender beings angelical
Least and most childlike of the sons of God.
CHOIR OF ANGELICALS:
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
Spirit and flesh his parents were;
And in the depth be praise:
His home was heaven and earth.
In all His words most wonderful;
The Eternal blessed His child, and armed,
Most sure in all His ways!
And sent him hence afar,
To us His elder race He gave
To serve as champion in the field
To battle and to win,
Of elemental war.
Without the chastisement of pain,
To be His Viceroy in the world
Without the solil of sin.
Of matter, and of sense;
The younger son He willed to be
Upon the frontier, towards the foe,
A marvel in his birth:
A resolute defence.
ANGEL:
We now have passed the gate, and are within the House of Judgment.
SOUL:
The sound is like the rushing of the wind —
The summer wind among the lofty pines.
CHOIR OF ANGELICALS:
Glory to Him, who evermore
By truth and justice reigns;
Who tears the soul from out its case,
And burns away its stains!
ANGEL:
They sing of thy approaching agony,
Which thou so eagerly didst question of.
12
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
SOUL:
My soul is in my hand: | have no fear,—
It floods me, like the deep and solemn
But hark! a grand mysterious harmony:
sound
Of many waters.
ANGEL:
And now the threshold, as we traverse it,
Utters aloud its glad responsive chant.
CHOIR OF ANGELICALS:
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And that a higher gift than grace
And in the depth be praise:
Should flesh and blood refine,
In all His words most wonderful;
God'’s Presence and His very Self;
Most sure in all His ways!
And Essence all divine. O generous love!
O loving wisdom of our God!
that He who smote
When all was sin and shame,
In man for man the foe,
A second Adam to the fight
The double agony in man
And to the rescue came.
For man should undergo;
O wisest love that flesh and blood
And in the garden secretly,
Which did in Adam fail,
And on the cross on high,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should teach His brethren and inspire
Should strive and should prevail;
To suffer and to die.
ANGEL:
Thy judgment now is near, for we are come
Into the veiled presence of our God.
SOUL:
| hear the voices that | left on earth.
ANGEL:
It is the voice of friends around thy bed,
The same who strengthened Him, what
Who say the "Subvenite;" with the priest.
time He knelt
Hither the echoes come; before the
Throne
Stands the great Angel of the Agony,
Lone in the garden shade, bedewed with
blood.
That Angel best can plead with Him for all
Tormented souls, the dying and the dead.
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
13
ANGEL OF THE AGONY:
Jesu! by that shuddering dread
Jesu! by that sanctity
which fell on Thee;
which reigned in Thee;
Jesu! by that cold dismay
Jesu! by that Godhead
which sickened Thee;
which was one with Thee;
Jesu! by that pang of heart
Jesu! spare these souls
which thrilled in Thee;
which are so dear to Thee,
Jesu! by that mount of sins
Who in prison, calm and patient, wait for
which crippled Thee;
Thee;
Jesu! by that sense of guilt
which stifled Thee;
Jesu! by that innocence
Hasten, Lord, their hour, and bid them
come to Thee,
To that glorious Home, where they shall
ever gaze on Thee.
which girdled Thee;
SOUL:
| go before my Judge.
ASSISTANTS:
Be merciful, be gracious;
Lord, deliver him; Spare him, Lord.
ANGEL.:
Praise to His name!
O happy, suffering soul! for it is safe,
Consumed, yet quickened, by the glance of God.
Alleluia! Praise to His name!
SOUL:
Take me away, and in the lowest deep
To throb, and pine, and languish, till
There let me be,
possest
And there in hope the lone night-watches
keep,
Told out for me.
There, motionless and happy in my pain,
Of its Sole Peace.
There will | sing my absent Lord and
Love:—
Take me away,
Lone, not forlorn,—
That sooner | may rise, and go above,
There will | sing my sad perpetual strain,
And see Him in the truth of everlasting
Until the morn.
There will | sing, and soothe my stricken
breast,
day.
Take me away, and in the lowest deep
There let me be.
Which ne’er can cease
14
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Ly
SOULS IN PURGATORY:
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge: in every
Bring us not, Lord, very low: for Thou hast
generation;
said
Before the hills were born, and the world
Come back again, ye sons of Adam.
was: from age to age thou art God.
Come back, O Lord! how long: and be
entreated for Thy servants.
ANGEL:
Softly and gently, dearly-ransomed soul,
Angels, to whom the willing task is given,
In my most loving arms | now enfold thee,
Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou
And, o’er the penal waters, as they roll,
| poise thee, and | lower thee, and hold
thee.
And carefully | dip thee in the lake,
And thou, without a sob or a resistance,
Dost through the flood thy rapid passage
liest, And masses on the earth and prayers
in heaven,
Shall aid thee at the Throne of the most
Highest.
Farewell, but not forever! Brother dear,
Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;
take,
Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,
Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim
And | will come and wake thee on the
MOrrow.
distance.
Farewell, Farewell.
SOULS IN PURGATORY:
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge etc. Amen.
CHOIR OF ANGELICALS:
Praise to the Holiest etc. Amen.
The notes in this programme include material supplied through the Programme Note
Bank of Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies. The author,
Ivor Keys, is acknowledged with thanks.
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Presentation flowers designed and prepared by floristry students at
«
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&
floristry courses from the complete beginner to the professional,
contact student services at:
Merrist Wood Campus, Worplesdon, Guildford GU3 3PE
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Tel 01483 884040
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Guildford Philharmonic Choir
15
Catherine Denley
Catherine Denley has devoted most of her long and
successful career to the oratorio repertoire. She
studied at Trinity College of Music, and after a brief
time with the BBC Singers, embarked on a solo
career which has taken her all over the world. She
has worked with all of the major British orchestras.
Notable highlights have included the premiere of
Europera
Berlin;
by John
Britten's
Nagano;
Cage
in
Spring
Handel's
London,
Symphony
Messiah
with
Paris
and
with
Kent
the
Boston
Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Festival;
Beethoven's
Gardiner
9th
in
Symphony with
Japan;
Sir John
Mahler's
Eliot
Resurrection
Symphony in Odessa and Kiev and his Symphony of a Thousand for TV in Dublin,
and Mozart's Requiem in the Salzburg Mozartwoche and at the BBC Proms.
More recently she has sung Schumann's Scenes from Faust with Sir John Eliot
Gardiner in New York and the Proms; Britten's Spring Symphony for Dutch Radio;
Handel's
Hercules and La Resurrezione with Marc Minkowski in Paris and Lyon;
concert tours with Ton Koopman; and Bach's Easter Oratorio and Vivaldi Solo
Cantatas with the Israel Camerata.
On stage, she has taken part in the Halle
Opernhaus productions of Semele and Ezio by Handel, and many other such
roles, primarily from the Baroque repertoire. She has recently sung Elgar's Dream
of Gerontius
in
Gewandhaus,
Leipzig, Mahler's 2nd Symphony in Boston USA and Dvorak’s
Manchester
Cathedral,
Bach’'s
St Matthew
Passion
in
the
Stabat Mater
in King’'s College, Cambridge.
Catherine Denley is also renowned as a teacher—this summer she has given a
master-class in Norway and Croatia.
Catherine Denley has over 50 recordings to her credit. She has recorded a wide
ranging repertoire from Monteverdi to Copland and Messiaen, with conductors
such as Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Roger Norrington, Sir Neville Mariner, Robert
King,
Trevor
additions
Pinnock,
include
Sir
Haydn's
Richard
Hickox
Paukenmesse;
and
the
Schubert Songs with the Songmaker's Almanac;
Harry
Christophers.
Requiem
by
Michael
Recent
Haydn;
three highly acclaimed volumes
of Sacred Music by Vivaldi, and Mendelssohn's version of
Bach's St Matthew
Passion, recorded in the Gewandhaus, Leipzig.
gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaqpaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauaaaaaaaaaaaa
a3
.
% Bouquets 1—from the Russian concert
&
& | really was taken aback by the Polovstian Dances — | hadn't realized what a
Leel& Alexander Nevsky — even more so! How many hours does it take you to unwind
& full-blooded piece it was until this evening, & thoroughly enjoyed it. As for
E after an evening like that? [Ed: about 48!]
SUGL Y
RABRRBBRRBRBNBARBBRRBRNRRBBERRBRIBRRRIRBBRIBRRBBRNRNERRBIRIGRIRARIRIZIRIRA
16
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Eugene Ginty
Eugene Ginty started singing whilst reading Music
at Durham University and to date has performed
more than fifty operatic roles.
He made his
American debut as Tamino in The Magic Flute in
Boston in 1995, and has also performed in Japan,
China, Hong Kong, India, Egypt, ltaly, France and
Switzerland. Closer to home he has performed
many times for Opera Theatre Company in Dublin,
in roles such as Sandy/Officer 1
in
The
Lighthouse (1998, 2000), Filch in The Beggar's
Opera (2000), Tamino in The Little Magic Flute
(2001), Lukas in The Kiss (2002) and Mayor in
R
s
Hamelin (2003). In the UK he has worked for
Engllsh National Opera, Enghsh Touring Opera, Opera North, Opera Holland Park,
Almeida Opera, Opera Restored and Scottish Opera. Future productions include
a revival of Mac-Beth7 for PanPan Theatre in the Netherlands, Germany and
Ireland, Vera of Las Vegas for Opera Theatre Company, and Madama Butterfly in
England.
Eugene is also in demand in oratorio, and has sung at most of the major concert
halls in Ireland and the UK. He recently performed Beethoven Symphony no.9 at
the Royal Albert Hall. Future engagements include Mahler's Das Lied von der
Erde in Cambridge, Mozart's Mass in C Minor
in Dublin, and Verdi's Requiem.
Eugene's television performances are numerous and include Gilbert and Sullivan’s
The Gondoliers from the 1997 Proms, and various appearances on Highway and
Songs of Praise. He has broadcast on Lyric FM, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4,
and is often to be heard on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night.
Michael Bundy
Michael Bundy was educated at Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he gained an honours degree in
music, and at the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama, London, studying on the post-graduate
singing and opera courses. Further study was
undertaken
at
the
Britten-Pears
school
in
Aldeburgh,
with
Hugues
Cuenod,
and
subsequently with the late Erich Vietheer.
“s
2
Since turning professional he has performed widely
in very diverse genres, ranging from the early
Baroque period to musicals, from grand opera to
contemporary music. He has appeared as soloist
with groups as varied as The Sixteen, The
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
17
Futurum Ensemble of Sweden. With an operatic repertoire in excess of forty roles
he has travelled extensively, appearing twice at the opera house in Mauritius, as
Escamillo and Germont Pere, and he has been under contract to English National
Opera, Kent Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. More recently he
sang the roles of Maestro (in Salieri's Prima la Musica, Poi le Parole) and Buff (in
Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor) - alongside the renowned Fenella Fielding - in a
production which opened the new opera house in Spitalfields Market, East
London. He recently appeared with Theater Basel in Actus Tragicus - a new
staging of some of Bach’'s church cantatas by the renowned director Herbert
Wernicke.
In the field of oratorio he has a wide and varied repertoire, and has sung in most of
the cathedrals and major concert halls in this country, He recently broadcast for
BBC Radio 3 (as part of their Choir Works series) the oratorio Poémes
Fransiscains by the organist-composer Bonnal (one-time organist of Sainte
Clotilde), a recording which will shortly be issued as a commercial CD. Future
engagements include performances of Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand in The
Usher Hall, Edinburgh. Work with Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert
recently has included performances of the arias from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion
in concerts around Europe, also Istanbul and Japan. In June of last year he sang
Handel's Israel in Egypt for Sir John Eliot Gardiner with the Monteverdi Choir and
The English Baroque Soloists (repeated as a BBC Promenade Concert last
summer) and toured Spain with this same conductor in a programme of Bach
Cantata’s and Lutheran Masses: This year he has appeared as soloist in Haydn’s
Nelson Mass (tour of the West Coast of America) and is currently touring Europe
in Bach’s Messe in H moll, having recently sung in that group’s 40th birthday
performance of the Monteverdi Vespers in St. Mark’s Venice. Later this year he
will be touring the Far East in programmes of English Restoration music.
He maintains a strong interest in contemporary music, and was involved in the
Contemporary Music Network tour of Jonathan Harvey’s opera-oratorio Passion
and Resurrection. He premiered the chamber opera Flowers, by the composer
John Hardy, which was widely and favourably reviewed by the National press,
and recently undertook a tour of Helen of Braemore, by the Scottish composer
Eddie McGuire. He is shortly to give the premiére of Celia Macdowell's Stabat
Mater. On a lighter note, he frequently broadcasts for BBC Radio 2.
gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
a3
3 Bouquets 2—from the Russian concert
; The Guildford Philharmonic's concert entitled 'A Russian Spectacular' was well
? named. We were indeed treated to a most spectacular evening from all points
v of view. Jeremy Backhouse, the choir's dynamic musical director since 1995, is
%3 to be congratulated for his continuous bold, imaginative programme planning. In
-
Jgdo g including the colossal 8th Symphony of Mahler, and performed it to an
& less than a year the choir have promoted the most stimulating repertoire,
§ amazingly high standard.....
SOGL
7
7
RARRRBRBRRBBRBRBRRBRRBRBBRRBERRBRRRRIRRBRRABBRRIARIRREIBZIRRIREIRZEA
18
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Jeremy Backhouse
Jeremy Backhouse began his musical career in
Canterbury
Cathedral
where
he
was
Head
Chorister, and later studied music at Liverpool
University. He spent five years as Music Editor
at the Royal National Institute for the Blind,
where he was responsible for the transcription
of print music into Braille. In 1986 he joined
EMI
Records as a Literary Editor and since
April
1990 he has combined his work as a
Consultant Editor for EMI
Classics with
his
career as a freelance conductor and record
producer.
Jeremy is also the conductor of the Vasari
Singers, widely acknowledged as one of the
finest chamber choirs
in the country.
Since
winning the prestigious Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year competition in 1988, they
have performed regularly on the South Bank and at St John’s, Smith Square in
London, as well as in the cathedrals of Canterbury, Chichester, Winchester,
Hereford, Ely and Peterborough. In February 2002 the Vasari Singers performed
the UK Premiere of Dupré’s oratorio La France au Calvaire, followed by a World
Premiere CD recording, on the Guild label. As a new departure, the Vasari
Singers’ recent Guild label CD, Our love is here to stay, is a collection of close
harmony,
blues and jazz numbers,
including several arrangements by Ward
Swingle, their Patron. Their CD of Howells' Requiem and Frank Martin's Mass For
Double Choir has been released by Signum Records in January, and a CD of
Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, in a piano duet version with Jeremy Filsell, will
be released later this year on the Guild label.
In
January
1995,
Jeremy
was
appointed
Chorus
Master
of the
Guildford
Philharmonic Choir, and now conducts the majority of the choir's concerts. In
March 1999, Jeremy gave a “masterly” performance of Bruckner's Mass in E
minor and Mahler's
Symphony No.2 in Guildford Cathedral;
last season he
significantly extended his Mahler repertoire with a performance of Symphony No.
8, the monumental 'Symphony of a Thousand'.
Jeremy has worked with a number of the leading choirs in the country, including
the Philharmonia Chorus (preparing for Sir Colin Davis), the London Choral
Society (for Ronald Corp) and the Brighton Festival Chorus (for Carl Davies). In
September 1998, Jeremy became the Music Director of the Wooburn Singers,
only the third conductor in the distinguished history of the choir, following Sir
Richard Hickox (who founded the choir in 1967) and most recently, Stephen
Jackson.
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
19
The Forest Philharmonic Orchestra
The Forest Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in the London Borough of
Waltham Forest in 1962 and has since become this country’s leading community
orchestra. Rivalling the highest professional standards, it uniquely combines the
talents of London’s best amateur musicians with those of its up-and-coming music
students. The orchestra has been joined by many international artists, such as
pianists John Lill and Ronan O’Hora, violinists Gyorgy Pauk and Tasmin Little,
cellists Robert Cohen and Natalie Clein, and singers Lesley Garrett, Della Jones
and Patricia MacMahon.
The Forest Philharmonic Orchestra is also regularly invited to perform around the
country, acting as an ambassador for the Borough of Waltham Forest and
broadening the orchestra’s repertoire of orchestral and choral works.
Guildford Philharmonic Choir warmly welcomes the orchestra back for the first
concert of this season. Since our first joint and memorable concert of Mahler’s
Symphony No 2 - ‘Resurrection’ in May 1999, subsequent programmes
comprised Walton’s Belshazzar's Feast, Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony,
Mendelssohn's Eljah, and a tremendous performance of Mahler's Symphony No 8
in May 2003. In March of this year, the orchestra provided the challenging and
lively accompaniment for the choir's concert of American music, and made a
second visit in May for the ‘Russian Spectacular’.
ANNA ARTHUR & ASSOCIATES
SOLICITORS
WISH THE
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
FIERE FACIAS HOUSE, HIGH STREET, RIPLEY, SURREY
GU23 6AF
TEL: 01483 222499 - FAX: 01483 222766
20
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
The Guildford Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1947 by the Borough of
Guildford to perform major works from the choral repertoire with the Guildford
Philharmonic Orchestra. Since this time, the Choir has grown both in stature and
reputation and can now rightly claim its place as one of the foremost Choruses in
the country. The Choir grew to prominence under the batons of such eminent
British musicians as Sir Charles Groves, Vernon Handley and Sir David Willcocks.
Sir David remains in close contact with the Choir as its current President, and the
Choir is now independent from the Borough of Guildford.
In March 1999 the Choir gave a widely acclaimed performance of two works which
must surely rank among the greatest choral works of all time, Mahler's Symphony
No.2 — ‘Resurrection’ and Bruckner's Mass in E minor. The Choir enjoyed a
challenging and exciting concert programme for the 2000/01 season, which
included Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony.
The 2001/02 season included a performance of Handel's Messiah, a charity
concert for the Guildford Prostate cancer project (Mozart's Vesperae Solennes de
Confessore and Haydn’s Nelson Mass) and a patriotic and thrilling concert to
celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. The choir also performed with the tenor
Russell Watson in two concerts: at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and at Brighton.
The 2002/03 season started with a performance of Dvorak’s rarely heard and
beautiful Requiem and was followed by a powerful performance of Verdi's
Requiem, having combined forces with Wokingham Choral Society for the annual
Guildford Borough concert. Undoubtedly, the climax of the season was Mahler's
Symphony No. 8, where the choir combined forces with Lewisham Choral Society,
the South West Essex Choir and the Grey Coat Hospital Girls Choir.
Last season opened with an evening of Baroque music, followed by the last
Christmas Carol concert to be held in Guildford Civic. In February the choir sang
Haydn's Te Deum and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, with the Guildford
Philharmonic Orchestra, for the annual Guildford Borough concert. This was
followed in March by a concert of American music, featuring works by Barber,
Bernstein, Copland, Stravinsky and others. The season concluded with highly
acclaimed performances of Borodin’s Polovisian Dances and Prokofiev's
Alexander Nevsky (both in Russian), and Rachmaninov’'s Piano Concerto no 3,
performed by the choir's outstanding accompanist, Jeremy Filsell.
The Choir is always searching for new members to maintain its high standard and
auditions are held throughout the year. For further details about joining the Choir
or for information about any of our future concerts, please contact Noreen Ayton,
tel: 01932 221918. Rehearsals are held on Monday evenings throughout term time
in central Guildford and prospective members are most welcome to attend
rehearsals on an informal basis before committing to an audition.
The Choir's website can be found at www.guildfordphilharmonicchoir.org.uk
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
21
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
FIRST TENORS
FIRST SOPRANOS
FIRST ALTOS
Joanna Andrews *
Marion Adderley
Bob Cowell *
Noreen Ayton
Jane Brooks
Tim Hardyment
lan Landsborough
Helen Beevers
Celia Embleton
Miranda Champion
Ingrid Hardiman *
Nick Manning *
Elaine Chapman
Susan Hinton *
Chris Robinson *
Sara Dann
Valerie Leggatt
John Trigg *
Gemma Davis
Kay McManus
Rachel Edmondson *
Christine Medlow *
Calli Hayes
Rosalind Milton
SECOND TENORS
Bob Bromham *
Mo Kfouri
Mary Moon
Tony Cousins
Hilary Minor
Penny Muray
Stephen Linton
Susan Norton *
Jacqueline Norman
Robin Onslow
Penny Overton
Rachel Owen
Lesley Scordellis
Margaret Parry *
Catherine Shacklady
FIRST BASSES
Stephen Arthur
John Britten *
Margaret Perkins*
Maureen Shortland
Michael Dudley*
Gillian Rix
Jane Sweaney
Terence Ellis
Judy Smith
Hillary Trigg *
Carol Terry
Pamela Woodroffe
Vaidotas Gerikas
SECOND ALTOS
Keith Hester
Nikki Vale
Geoffrey Forster
Michael Golden
SECOND SOPRANOS
Valerie Adam
Laurie James *
Jacqueline Alderton
Marion Arbuckle
Chris Newbery
Gemma Allred
Sally Bailey
David Ross *
Anna Arthur
Evelyn Beastall
lan Savill
Josephine Field
Iris Bennett
Philip Stanford
Mandy Freeman*
Mary Clayton
Kieron Walsh
Angela Hall*
Andrea Dombrowe
SECOND BASSES
Angela Hand
Carolyn Edis
Jane Kenney *
Valerie Garrow
Judith Lewy
Barbara Hilder
Peter Andrews
Lois McCabe
Carol Hobbs
Roger Barrett
Alison Newbery
Sheila Hodson
Rosalind Plowright
Yvonne Hungerford
Susannah Priede
Brenda Moore
Alison Rawlinson
Jean Munro
Marjory Rollo
Kate New
Dan Adderley
Norman Carpenter *
James Garrow *
Nick Gough *
Michael Jeffery
Stephen Jepson
Maxwell New *
Ann Sheppard
Prue Smith *
Maggie Smith
Alex Stevens
John Parry *
Kathy Stickland
Rosey Storey
Roger Penny
Rachel Wheldon *
Christine Wilks
Nigel Pollock
Michael Taylor
* - semichorus
22
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Choir Functionaries
Jeremy Backhouse Chorus Director
Jeremy Filsell
Accompanist
The Committee
John Trigg
Chairman
Bob Cowell
Hon. Treasurer
Patrons Contact
Mailing List
Tel: 01483 770896
Miranda Champion
Hon. Secretary
Noreen Ayton
Membership Secretary Tel. 01932 221918
Stephen Jepson
Projects, Staging overview
Jackie Alderton
Fundraising,
Social events
Ladies’ uniforms
Carol Terry
Minutes Secretary
Michael Taylor
Website coordinator
Rachel Edmondson
Alison Rawlinson
Hilary Trigg
Other responsibilities:-
Christine Medlow
Music Librarian
Michael Taylor
Ticket Sales
Stephen Arthur
Orchestra and soloist liaison
Front of House
Chris Alderton
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Tel: 01483 444334
23
Patrons and Friends of
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Guildford Philharmonic Choir is extremely grateful to all Patrons and
Friends for their Financial support.
Patrons
Dr. J.B.R. Arbuckle
Executive Presentation
Dr. Roger Barrett
Golden and Associates
Mrs. E.A. Batterbury
Mrs. Carol Hobbs
Mr. Bill Bellerby MBE
Mr. Laurie James
Mrs. Doreen Bellerby MBE
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Kilkenny
Mr. & Mrs. Peter Bennett
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Longford
Mr. G.S. Blacker
Mr. Ron Medlow
Mrs. J. G. Blacker
Mrs. Christine Medlow
Mrs. Ingrid Brockdorff
Dr. Roger Muray
Mr. & Mrs. R.H.R. Broughton
Mr. & Mrs. Maxwell S New
Mr. H.J.C. Browne
Mr. & Mrs. John Parry
Canon Patricia Cousins
Penny & Hayter Opticians
Mrs. Maryel Cowell
Mrs. Jean Radley
Mr. Michael Dawe
Mr. & Mrs. B. Reed
Mrs. Margaret Dentskevich
Mr. Michael Shortland
Mr. & Mrs. G. Dombrowe
Dr. & Mrs. M.G.M. Smith
Dr. Simon Doran
Mrs. Y.M.L. Tiplady
Miss Enid Weston
Friends
Dega Broadcast Systems
Mrs. Jean Shail
Maggie van Koetsveld
Mrs. K.C. Stickland
New Patrons and Friends are always welcome. If you are interested in
participating, please contact GPC Patrons Secretary Bob Cowell,
Tel: 01483 770896, or email: patrons@guildfordphilharmonicchoir.org.uk.
24
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
Chris Alderton
Decorator
Interior and exterior work
Tel: 01932 343625
For Complete
Family Eyecare
Extensiue
ra nge ;;:_j'_)"-r(z mes |1 Wolsey Walk, Woking GU2I INU
with many designer names | Tel: 01483 766800
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Richard Broughton FOQeeam Diptep
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Remise s abser 5t
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Optometrists & Contac! Lens Practitiongrs
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ESTABLISHED INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
Guildford Philharmonic Choir
1
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